12/18/2014
By Charles Payne, CEO & Principal Analyst

Saying we should "cut loose the shackles of the past” President Obama capped 18 months of secret negotiations spurred in part by Pope Francis with a three for one prison swap. Three Cuban spies for Rolando Trujillo, a Cuban jailed for working for American Intelligence.

President Obama concluded that “These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked," and “It’s time for a new approach.” (Some, including myself, would say we should apply this logic to toe war on poverty and welfare utopia.)

Just as the Sony decision forged odd alliances, critics for the Cuba deal saw quick and emotional rebukes from Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, along with Democrat Senator Robert Menendez whose statement echoed his collogues: "The president’s actions have vindicated the actions of the Castro government, virtually guaranteeing profound human rights abuses on the island will continue."

It seems to me with Russia on the ropes and with Venezuela running out of toilet paper, it was only  matter of time before Cuba blinked or the people of Cuba made a stand, but Cubans are no longer a slam dunk for the GOP (see table)- so was it all really politics... Amnesty II?

President Obama brags about his limited use of executive orders, but he's issued more executive memos than any president ever and they have the same legal affect as an executive order.

• 195 Executive Orders
• 198 Executive Memos 

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Charles Payne
Wall Street Strategies

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